Hi Troy, I got one last year so I'll try my best to give an honest unbiased opinion. Value for money it's a good machine. I'm not sure what improvements they have made with this model but I can assure that most of the bugs were already sorted out in the previous generation. So I can only assume that this one will be better again. The good thing about this printer are the modifications and aftermarket products that are available that turn a good desktop printer into a great desktop printer.
If you just want something that prints straight out of the box then this is it. However if you want a workhorse with a full range of filament options then I'd suggest taking a bit of time printing mods, building an enclosure and if possible spending a little bit of extra money on some minor upgrades (all metal hotend, glass bed and thicker Y carriage plate). Depending on what improvements have been made you may find that some of these things have already been taken care of in the new model.
Bottom line it's not the best 3D printer out there, but for the money it's a very worthy purchase. Mine still serves me well, running at least 2-3 times a week without a glitch.
Echo above comments have one from last year. Out of the box performance is fine, can do better with some easy mods. there is a large Aussie and US Facebook group with lots of tips and good place for questions. I have also since bought creality CR10 via banggood. It’s a very nice printer with big following. The best thing about Aldi one is the local support from Winplus is just awesome. Sure there are other better printers out there but the Aldi which is a rebadged Wanhao i3 plus, is good unit with great local support.
There is a learning curve. Don’t jump on the paid slicer bandwagon and get Simplify3d while it’s good it has its issues. and plenty of free options out there for slicers. Ideamaker , Cura (a version will come with printer) , etc etc.
If you can get one grab it also look on gumtree and FB groups lot of people selling there units from previous years.
Lots of YouTube videos look for Wanhao i3 plus as it’s better known as that in the rest of the world. Do your research.
If you go direct from China look at the Anycubic i3 Mega also a good printer. There are also many creality cr10 clones now but imho the original creality brand is best.
Do your research on Bed Traming, often misquoted as bed leveling. The Aldi printer does not have auto bed traming but it has an assisTed mode.
This looks like a direct clone of the Monoprice Maker Select Plus, and for about the same price. That one has decent reviews too and I almost bought one, but then I discovered that my local library has 3 3D printers available for public use and it costs next to nothing. I designed and printed a frame to hold my flat panel on the telescope while in the horizontal position and it cost me about $5.
It would be quite convenient in our hobby have one available for personal use, but since I don't anticipate printing very much and there are public printers available I decided not to buy one myself. I was very tempted though.
I have checked my local library and they don't have one. Also I have tried some online 3d printing sites in Australia and shipping basically killed the idea.
For example I created a stl file for a ceiling fan control knob it was $5 to print and $12 to ship the product to me! A bit steep for a object 22mm x 18mm. FYI I have attached the file for those interested (not sure if it fits though never printed).
Hence why I'm looking at a cheap 3d printer, so I can learn all about 3d printing and something the kids can use as well.
I bought a 3D printer about 5yrs ago and paid $795 at that time. Whilst its a fantastic printer and very accurate, the amount of printing that gets done is minimal.
So much so that my wife was always nagging me about what a waste of money I spent for the occasional adapter I printed.
So I agree with Joel if your local library has one, use theirs.
Depends on what you are doing with them and how accurate you need the end product to be.
The $200 printers are open air (dust gets into stuff that's being printed), probably accurate for the first few prints but probably need recalibrating frequently afterwards, may be loud, probably don't regulate the heat of the base plate well, certainly don't regulate the heat of the environment in which the model is being printed, might only print up to a size of B4 etc.
I found one today at the local Aldi. Apparently they move stock around from stores where they haven't been selling to stores where they have. I took it as a sign that I need to buy it.
Currently printing a tennis ball - not sure if the sample filament will be long enough.
Seems to be going quite well out of the box. These printers seem to get good review on the web, despite their relatively low price. There are lots of potential modifications and upgrades as well to turn them into something that punches above their weight.
I found the Wanhao branded version online in Perth for $95 more, including freight, so they're a reasonable buy at Aldi if you can still find one.
Planning to print out some Bahtinov masks and other bits and pieces in due course - what could possibly go wrong.
My wife just thinks the Geek-O-Meter may have maxed out in our household...
Nylon 618 is a pure white polymer and fully capable of absorbing acid based dyes. 618 printed with 100% fill rivals its injection moulded equivalents in strength. All of the feature of nylon that we come to depend on are at the maximum in 618. Slippery surfaces, pliability, strength, non-scrape, chemical resistance and high thermal durability.
I got the first aldi 3d printer, its still basically the same as the new ones. Mine is basically dead, but it worked well(ish) for a while. If you are new to 3D printers i can NOT recommend them though. Instructions for new one still require some prior experience to understand them. "Easy to use"? not really, but its relative. There is a lot of tweaking to get it running well, the bed leveling and nozzle gap are absolutely critic though. its a pain in the butt and has to be done before every print as the heat puts it out of alignment by a tiny amount and you get failed prints often. even worse bad alignment and you can permanently damage the print bed and nozzle. If you are inexperienced odds are high you will do this early on and never be able to get a good print after that. If you're lucky you might get it running well (everyone i've seen with a good running cocoon create printer its never been their first 3d printer).
Usable 3d printers are around $500, but good 3d printers are till above $1k, for a beginner. Experienced users can get cheap printers working well. If you want to start in 3D printing i can highly recommend the Cetus 3D, buy direct from Cetus website. I got the extended version and it just works, every roll of PLA I throw at it it'll print with no problem, no tweaking, no fine tuning temperature settings, no unclogging or realignment needed. It really IS easy to use. default settings it prints reliably and rock solid platform that doesn't wobble tall prints lik the aldi printer does. happily uses the aldi filament, cheap ebay 1.75mm pla filaments too but I'm switchin to x3d filaments to support a local business and the prints are slightly better at same settings still. Its print volume is actually usable and good, aldis is bigger but doesnt mean much, its like the browser/megapixel wars all over again. if you want big and cheap get a CR10. its a far better printer than the aldi ones, similar price and larger print volume but still dont think ok for first time buyer.
whatever you do DO NOT go on ebay and buy a sub$200/300 printer. it'll be as useful as your $50 1000x telescope. Double your budget and buy something that works instead.
I have both the Aldi CCT and Cr10 both are good in there own ways. I am going to convert my Aldi one to a Flexion head so can print flexible materials like nylon etc. The Cr10 is not so easy to convert to this as it has a differ t kind of feed mechanism i.e Bowden vs Direct drive. With Bowden the motor that pushes the material through is seperate from the head and so does not suit flexible materials (TPU at slow speeds maybe) you need direct drive where drive steeper to push filament is part or the print head. Do your homework printing is not just about the printer. There is much good help on Youtube look at Angus Makers Muse (aussie maker), Joel the 3d nerd, The 3d maker noob, Nerys, chep filament Friday, Jat.mn, Thomas Sanladerer these are good sources of info and reviews.
